KHL Financial Issues

[TeamHonda401 54]

http://www.si.com/nhl/2014/12/17/khl-folding-oil-production-financial-problems

That type of bankrolling system would certainly seem like an incredibly unstable way to finance hockey teams.

[iceman8310 103]

well the Russian economy is struggling. Look at the rouble

dinamo riga, atlant moscow, and a few ofther teams are on the verge of collapse.

[chippa13 1844]

And you guys were worried that the KHL was going to steal all the NHL talent.

[iceman8310 103]

And you guys were worried that the KHL was going to steal all the NHL talent.

a league may go under, thats why we are worried

[bagsbie 8]

For me it isn't about the talent stealing but more about jobs for the players that cannot make it to the ranks of the NHL. Coaches and players are not getting paid to do what they love... Sucks.

[Chadd 916]

I have little sympathy for people working for gangsters and oligarchs when the house of cards collapses.

[Neal 41]

I have little sympathy for people working for gangsters and oligarchs when the house of cards collapses.

Very true. I can see the temptation because many of the KHL players were faced with getting real jobs if it weren't for the KHL. But if you even do the least digging you realize that most owners in the KHL are at best unethical and at worst criminals.

[RadioGaGa 162]

I heard earlier this week a $1,000,000 contract is now worth more like $500,000 with the disable of the ruble.

Only Russian based clubs pay in Rubles. The KHL clubs in other countries generally pay in the currency of that country. In most cases, I believe Euros.

[psh 25]

I thought this article about a former US college player who is now in the KHL was pretty good at shedding light on what the players are experiencing there. Stapleton sounds like a pretty bright and level headed guy. I suspect most had very little idea about what they were getting into.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/how-russian-economic-uncertainty-impacts-khlers/

[ktang 34]

If the KHL contracts or collapses, it means fewer jobs for the same number of players. The guys on the bottom would be lopped off, and everybody who isn't a star moves down a notch pay-wise.

With fewer options for the players, and with a salary cap in place with 50/50 sharing of revenues, the NHL becomes stronger.

[chippa13 1844]

The NHL was never afraid of the KHL to begin with.

[ktang 34]

The NHL was never afraid of the KHL to begin with.

True, but the KHL provided a viable option for players.

[Harv 86]

The Russian government will step in far before the entire league collapses. They need it to support the national team. That is the main purpose for the league.

I expect about 1/3 of the teams to fold and the all the non-Russians will be told to find work in another league. I probably bet on the the league shrinking to under 20 teams next year.

[chippa13 1844]

The KHL provided a viable option for fringe players and guys who didn't want to be on North American two-way contracts.

[ktang 34]

The KHL provided a viable option for fringe players and guys who didn't want to be on North American two-way contracts.

True, and a viable option for players wanting to earn more than the NHL cap could give. In doing so, it gave some leverage to the players and, ironically, the NHLPA.

[Buzz_LightBeer 959]

The KHL on TV during the lockout was brutal, and if guys like Kovalchuk, Radulov and Alexei Yash-My-Paycheck want to play there good riddance. I for one care zero about the leagues financial trouble. There, I said it.

[chippa13 1844]

True, and a viable option for players wanting to earn more than the NHL cap could give. In doing so, it gave some leverage to the players and, ironically, the NHLPA.

Leverage to who? Kevin Dallman? Chris Bourque? The KHL had zero impact on labor relations between the NHL and NHLPA.

[Chadd 916]

Leverage to who? Kevin Dallman? Chris Bourque? The KHL had zero impact on labor relations between the NHL and NHLPA.

For guys like Radulov, Kovalchuk and Morozov.

[chippa13 1844]

I don't recall teams getting in any bidding wars to keep those guys here. Radulov even attempted what was a flop of a return to the NHL and took a Kostitsyn back to Russia with his antics. Kovalchuk already had a ridiculous front loaded contract and "retired" a couple of years in. Nobody is begging any of those guys to return. All they've done is make NHL clubs all but ignore Russians at the draft table.

[ktang 34]

I like watching the game behind the game, but at the moment the NHL has too much power (before, under Goodenow, the NHLPA had too much). The old WHL got Gretzky, which was more important than getting Bobby Hull.

Let's say that the Oilers get McDavid, but McDavid doesn't want to be an Oiler, à la Lindros. The KHL could have been a viable alternative.

Let's say that the KHL could have lured a star player in his prime, one that the fans thought would never "defect", and then others followed à la Hull.

These things, over another 7 years, could have helped the NHLPA in the next CBA negotiations.

[start_today 757]

Huge difference between going over an ocean to an entirely different culture and language to play in dicey conditions in a clearly sub-skilled league, and playing in an upstart league in the same country that is trying to compete directly with the big league.

The KHL might be an option for some young Russian players if they don't like the what the NHL offers, but that's about it. No North American player who can play in the NHL would go there. You'd see someone sit out a year before going there.

[Chadd 916]

The KHL might be an option for some young Russian players if they don't like the what the NHL offers, but that's about it.

Exactly, European guys at the start or end of their career viewed it as an option. As did a few North Americans that were squeezed out of jobs by the veteran limits in the AHL.

[Neal 41]

Exactly, European guys at the start or end of their career viewed it as an option. As did a few North Americans that were squeezed out of jobs by the veteran limits in the AHL.

All they've done is make NHL clubs all but ignore Russians at the draft table.

Those are the two big impacts the KHL had on the NHL in my opinion. NHL teams had to decide if a Russian or Eastern European prospect would put in the development time in junior and AHL or head to the KHL. That probably meant fewer players chosen from those countries unless they were elite prospects who would play in the NHL shortly after being drafted. And European guys at the fringe of the NHL in terms of talent (because of youth, age or just lack of talent) had another option that might even be closer to home. Not a big impact, but still an impact.

Now, the KHL's woes are due to the drop in oil prices, which won't only impact the KHL. The Flames and Oilers fan bases will be hit hard by long term oil prices drops too. It might not be so easy to sell out those arenas if it isn't so easy to get a high paying job on the rigs or supporting the rigs.

[bagsbie 8]

I don't recall teams getting in any bidding wars to keep those guys here. Radulov even attempted what was a flop of a return to the NHL and took a Kostitsyn back to Russia with his antics.

Radulov never had an intention of staying and landing a job in NHL. He came back to Preds to up his ante to get a bigger contract from another club in KHL to stick it to Salavat Yulaev with which he had a contract feud at the end of 2011-2012 KHL season (and he did with CSKA!). Kostitsyn, at that point of his career, wasn't looking at getting a contract in NHL either so he could care less. I would bet that Kostitsyn's agent had already something in the works with a KHL club at that point anyway...

[flip12 698]

Now, the KHL's woes are due to the drop in oil prices, which won't only impact the KHL. The Flames and Oilers fan bases will be hit hard by long term oil prices drops too. It might not be so easy to sell out those arenas if it isn't so easy to get a high paying job on the rigs or supporting the rigs.

This is what has been really interesting to follow...what I've been reading suggests the oil price will bounce back as soon as OPEC wishes, projected to be sometime in the next quarter or two. For now, they're all too happy to stick it to the new producers who can't break even getting oil from shale, etc., if the price is below $70/barrel. I don't know Western Canadian economics at all, but I'd be surprised if they're as exposed as Russia, where the entire economy is dependent on the oil price, and as soon as that dropped out and the value of the Ruble with it, their international debt skyrocketed...oooh, and I almost forgot: Ukraine. Russia's even more exposed since they're cut off from international financing due to their incursions in Ukraine. Any part of Canada shouldn't have that problem any time soon. If the oil price were to stay this low for more than a year, then yes, I would agree with your assessment of the Calgary and Edmonton economies, but their situation isn't perfectly analogous to Russia's.